Students with disabilities experience barriers when studying in MBAs: Study

Students with disabilities often experience barriers to study in MBAs, which are considered a path to an influential position, write University of Winnipeg Associate Professor Katherine Breward and University of Toronto Postdoctoral Research Fellow Daniel Samosh. Breward and Samosh discuss a recent survey of 184 prospective, current, and former MBA students with disabilities that identified common barriers such as inflexible deadlines, communication issues, and challenges participating in classroom discussions. Some students reported that they were unable to access accommodations and reported feeling left out of group work and both formal and informal social activities. The survey found that respondents were attracted to more accessible and inclusive schools. The authors recommend that MBA programs ensure that their practices support students with disabilities in achieving their goals and provide suggestions such as putting a proactive focus on inclusive design and addressing aggressive assignment deadlines. The Conversation Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.